Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday April 25, 2020

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was prerecorded at home and be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/47623.html

Rachael Sage- Open the Door

Character (MPress Records)

Tom Russell- Honky Tonk Quarantine

Unreleased – used with permission

Mary Gauthier- Mercy Now

Mercy Now (Lost Highway)

Ian Hanchet- I Shall Be Released

Dealin’ from the Bottom (of My Heart) (Ian Hanchet)

Moore & McGregor- Don’t Let Us Get Sick

Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Eliza Gilkyson- Promises to Keep

2020 (Red House)

Rachelle Garniez- My Sister and I

Gone to Glory (StorySound)

Corin Raymond- Half Past Remembered

Dirty Mansions (Local Rascal Records)

Stephen Mendel- Lucky Old Sun

Sing Me a Story (Stephen Mendel)

Missy Burgess with the Blue Train- If I Fall in Love Again

Live (Missy Burgess)

Diana Jones- Better Times will Come

Better Times will Come (Proper)

Steve Forbert- Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues

Early Morning Rain (Blue Rose Music)

Tracy Grammer- If I Needed You

If I Needed You – single (Tracy Grammer)

Tom Russell & The Norwegian Wind Ensemble- Guadalupe

Aztec Jazz (Frontera)

Stephen Barry Band- Pickin’ the Blues

Live (Fix it in the Mix Music)

Extended feature: Songs of John Prine (1946-2020). The next 16 songs were written by John Prine, one of our greatest folk-rooted singer-songwriters. John passed away on April 7 from COVID-19. He was 73.

Steve Goodman & John Prine- Souvenirs

Affordable Art (Red Pajamas)

Joan Baez- Hello in There

Diamonds & Rust (A&M)

Tim Grimm- Sam Stone

Names (Wind River)

John Prine- Fish and Whistle

Souvenirs (Oh Boy)

Nicky Mehta- All the Best

Unreleased – used with permission

Valdy & Gary Fjellgaard- Speed of the Sound of Loneliness

Contenders Two: Still in the Running (Stony Plain)

Allison Brown- Angel from Montgomery

Everything That Shined (Allison Brown)

John Prine- Blue Umbrella

Souvenirs (Oh Boy)

Leo Gillespie- Aimless Love

Leo Gillespie (Leo Gillespie)

Tim & Mollie O'Brien- Unwed Fathers

Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective (Sugar Hill)

Mark Haines & Tom Leighton- That’s the Way the World Goes Round

Hand to Hand (Borealis)

John Prine- Caravan of Fools

The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Rob Lutes- Rocky Mountain Time

Walk in the Dark (Lucky Bear)

Bonnie Koloc- Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone

Timeless (Mr. Biscuit)

Johnny Cash- Paradise

Personal File (Columbia/Legacy)

John Prine- When I Get to Heaven

The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)

Susan Werner- House of the Rising Sun

NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Guy Van Duser & Billy Novick- New Orleans Farewell

Lovely Sunday Afternoon (Daring)

Shelley Posen- Long, Long Tunnel

Unreleased – used with permission

Rosalie Sorrels- I Think of You

My Last Go Round (Red House)

Magpie- Old Devil Time

A Tiding (Longtail Records)

Pete Seeger & Arlo Gruthrie- Quite Early Morning

Together In Concert (Rising Son)

Deborah Holland- Will I Ever Be Loved

Fine, Thank You (Rage On Records)

Adam Karch- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Everything Can Change (Bros)

Kat Goldman- Harvard Boys

Gypsy Girl (Kat Goldman)

Jackie Washington- The Joint is Jumpin’

The World of Jackie Washington (Borealis)

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong- Let’s Give a Party

That Old Gang of Mine/Martin, Bogan & Armstrong (Flying Fish)

Missy Burgess with the Blue Train- Basket O’ Blues

Live (Missy Burgess)

Rory Block- Prove It on Me

Prove It on Me (Stony Plain)

Katy Hobgood Ray featuring Dave Ray- Little Children’s Blues

I Dream of Water (Out of the Past Music)

Ken Whiteley- Lay My Burden by the River

Calm in the Eye of the Storm (Borealis)

Andy Statman- Raw Ride

Monroe Bus (Shefa)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on May 16 (for Alan Surmachynski) and on May 23.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Ruth Moody – These Wilder Things

RUTH MOODY

These Wilder Things

True North Records (Canada)

Red House Records (U.S.)

ruthmoody.com

On These Wilder Things, Ruth Moody of the Wailin’ Jennys offers a hauntingly beautiful set of 10 songs – nine of them original – on themes of love, loss and friendship in arrangements that reflect both traditional and contemporary sensibilities.

Among my favorite songs is “Trouble and Woe,” which reminds me “One Voice,” one of Ruth’s earlier songs recorded by the Jennys. With Ruth singing quietly at the outset and picking out the melody on her banjo, the song begins in a mood of sadness – “The world is full of trouble and woe” – eventually becoming a song of hope, “The world is full of promise and love.”

Other highlights include “Pockets,” a poignant rumination on youthful friendship featuring lovely electric guitar fills and harmony vocals by Mark Knopfler; “Life is Long,” a lovely reminiscence of someone – could be a lover, a friend, a parent – who has died featuring a Celtic arrangement built on Mike McGoldrick’s whistle and John McCusker’s fiddle; and “Make a Change,” an autumnal song that thematically recalls Joni Mitchell’s “Urge for Going.”

In addition to her own songs, Ruth offers a delightful, folk-style version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” which brings something new and different to the song.

From song to song, Ruth moves from banjo to guitar to ukulele and piano and receives multi-instrumental support from producer David Travers-Smith and frequent Jennys sideman Adrian Dolan. Along with those already mentioned, there are cameo appearances from Dobro master Jerry Douglas, Crooked Still singer Aoife O’Donovan, and fellow Jennys Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse. 

These Wilder Things is Ruth’s second solo album. Click here for my review of The Garden, her first.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars; Good Lovelies – Let the Rain Fall

The obvious similarity between the Wailin’ Jennys and the Good Lovelies are that they’re both Canadian – although the Jennys now include an American member – trios of sublime harmony singers. But, the similarities pretty much end there as shown on the fine new CDs the groups have released this month. The Jennys' songs are – mostly – quieter and more subtle and reveal more each time they’re heard. The Good Lovelies are more upbeat and just plain fun from the get-go.

THE WAILIN’ JENNYS

Bright Morning Stars

True North Records (Canada)

Red House Records (U.S.)

thewailinjennys.com

Bright Morning Stars is the Winnipeg-based Wailin’ Jennys third full-length studio album and each of those albums has featured a slightly different line-up.

Their debut EP, The Wailin’ Jennys, and first full-length studio album, 40 Days, featured original members Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody and Cara Luft.

Firecracker, the second full-length studio album, featured Nicky, Ruth and Annabelle Chvostek; while on the 2009 live album, Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, and, now, Bright Morning Stars, Nicky and Ruth are joined by American singer-songwriter Heather Masse.

As I noted in my review of Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, the Wailin’ Jennys have, with each personnel change, seemingly seamlessly adapted and evolved. There was something different, but consistently Jennyish, with each change. With the live album and several years of touring with Nicky and Ruth, Heather seems like a veteran member of the trio, hardly the new Jenny on the block.

The Wailin’ Jennys take an egalitarian approach to the album. Each contributes four original songs on which she sings lead with the other two supplying their sublime harmonies and they also offer a stunning version of the traditional hymn-like “Bright Morning Stars,” sung in glorious three-part harmony.

Highlights among Nicky’s songs include the opening track, “Swing Low Sail High,” at once both a confession to love’s shortcoming and a reaffirmation of love’s endurance, and “What Has Been Done,” a mysterious ballad, seemingly about a murder, or, perhaps, a suicide, that shows the influence of traditional Appalachian folksongs.

Ruth’s highlights include “Storm Comin’,” a metaphorical piece about being prepared for what life and love have to offer, and “Asleep At Last,” a quiet, beautiful love song.

Heather’s highlights include “Mona Louise,” partly a lullaby and partly a celebration of a new life, and “Cherry Blossom Love,” a haunting song that seems almost equally derived from both the folksong and jazz ballad traditions.

As I noted in the introduction, these songs are – mostly – quiet and subtle and reveal more each time they’re heard.

GOOD LOVELIES

Let the Rain Fall

Good Lovelies/Six Shooter

goodlovelies.com

I looked up the brief reviews I wrote for the Montreal Gazette and Sing Out! magazine of the Toronto-based Good Lovelies self-titled debut album. In both reviews I mentioned the “three promising young singer-songwriters – Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore – delightfully dress up each others’ often-delightful neo-folk, country and swing songs with irresistible three-part harmonies.” The album was on my list of favourites for 2009. The Lovelies also turned out a quick Christmas album in 2009 and are now back with Let the Rain Fall, their third full length CD.

As I mentioned in the intro, Let the Rain Fall, is upbeat and fun from the get-go. While there are a couple of songs that offer moments of sadness, most of the 13 numbers are irresistible, toe-tappers that offer sunny good cheer amid superb three-part harmonies.

While the debut album was built around songs written by each of the Good Lovelies, Let the Rain Fall’s songs – except for a fun cover of hip hop artist K-os’ “Crabbuckit” that they more than pull off – are credited jointly to the Good Lovelies. The result is that the album’s songs are one of a whole rather the sum of its parts. Is it Caroline, Kerri or Sue riding her bike through Toronto in “Backyard”? Which one is getting on the plane for a period of separation – borne of music touring, I presume – in “Every Little Thing”? Maybe it’s all of them and it really doesn’t matter much that they’ve somehow merged the individual identities.

Themes of home, or, more particularly, being away from home, and love, and missing love, run through many of these songs. But, they are an accurate reflection of the lives of young musicians plying their trade from one end of this vast country to the other and beyond.

The Good Lovelies’ arrangements blend folk, country, jazz and swing influences into something that’s always quite appealing, always very musical, and, almost always, lots of fun to listen to.

--Mike Regenstreif